After Miami escaped Chapel Hill with a 27-23 win over North Carolina on Thursday, Hurricanes quarterback Stephen Morris didn’t mince words when describing his four-interception performance.

“I had my worst game of my whole entire life,” said Morris. “But my teammates were there helping me out and responding for me. That’s all that matters to me.”

Morris’ leadership and the fact he took ownership of his play is part of the reason Miami coach Al Golden said his faith in his quarterback didn’t waver as Morris struggled.

When asked Friday if he considered putting in backup Ryan Williams, who played well in both of the games Morris left early because of an ankle injury, Golden repeatedly and emphatically said no.

“He didn’t need to convince me. I saw him in the huddle there at the end, those last couple drives…I saw that look going into the last huddle. He had command of that huddle and I actually left the huddle because of it,” Golden said. “[Morris] was talking to those guys and I knew [offensive coordinator] James [Coley] did a great job of settling him down and saying ‘These are the three or four routes we’re going to run,’ and he felt comfortable with it.”

Morris responded by leading the Hurricanes on two fourth-quarter scoring drives, including one on Miami’s final possession where he completed three passes for 34 yards.

“He threw those last three or four balls with great confidence, and with rhythm and timing and obviously, it was the difference in the game,” Golden said. “You’ve got to trust your gut in those instances. There’s no doubt Ryan Williams can win games for us and he’s really improved and we’re excited about Ryan, but this was Stephen’s time. I just felt like he was going to lead us to victory certainly at that point, given that environment and where we were 91 yards away, that Stephen was the guy that was going to give us a chance to win.”

Overall, Morris was 19 of 35 for 322 yards against the Tar Heels.

*Sunday, Miami reached heights it hasn’t seen nearly eight years, rising to No. 7 in the AP Top 25 and No. 6 in the coaches’ polls. Both rankings are Miami’s highest since the Hurricanes were ranked No. 3 in both polls the week of Nov. 13, 2005.